


Budding

by chronicAngel



Series: Leaves in the Summer [50]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Blank Period, F/M, POV Third Person, Pregnancy, Sakura Week 2018, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-06 16:12:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: "It's not my fault that you two came all the way here assuming that I'd go with you. And it's definitely not my fault that you got knocked up in the first place."





	1. Iron Will of Determination

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KuriQuinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuriQuinn/gifts).



"But you _have_ to!" She cries, stomping her foot hard enough that a small crack splits the earth beneath her heel. It's thin enough that there's no concern that the ground will simply fall out from under them, but Sakura still nervously tries to calm herself as she repeats, "You have to."

"I don't _have_ to do anything," Karin sneers, crossing her arms haughtily over her chest. Her attitude is similar to Sakura's and even as she knows that demanding anything from her will get them nowhere, will only make the quick-to-anger girl's temper flare, she is too desperate to think logically about it. "It's not my fault that you two came all the way here assuming that I'd go with you. And it's _definitely_ not my fault that you got knocked up in the first place."

Sasuke steps forward from where he has been quietly lingering at Sakura's side. "That's enough, Karin."

The Uzumaki has the courtesy to look scolded for a second before glaring. "You think you two can just come bursting in here making demands--"

"We're not demanding anything," Sakura says, voice torn between appeasing and fierce. She chooses to go for the latter, determined, "Other than Tsunade-sama and myself, I can't think of a better medic-nin in the world! We can't go home and I can't exactly deliver my own baby, so we _have_ to ask you. But we're _asking_ you, not demanding." She sees Karin's resolve weaken at that and takes it as a small triumph.

Still, Karin only wavers for an instant before she's back to the same stubbornness she's been showing this whole interaction, practically sticking her nose up in the air as she huffs, "I have things to do, _Uchiha_ ," without actually specifying which one of them she's addressing. Sasuke opens his mouth as if to say something but Karin quickly cuts him off, " _Lots_ of things to do. I'm a very important person, Sasuke. And I can't just abandon my duties to Orochimaru-sama for a month even if I wanted to go on this dumb adventure with you guys!"

"You did it before," she points out, and Karin turns to look at her like she's dumb.

"He was _dead_!" Her tone is indignant and her voice is much louder than it needs to be, enough that Sakura grimaces as it echoes off the walls. "Or I thought he was dead," she adds hastily, bringing her volume down. "Unless you want to violate the agreement between Oto and Konoha and go kill him, my hands are tied." She looks between the two of them as though trying to stress the importance of this, and Sakura wonders for a second if she isn't silently pleading that they do it; they kill Orochimaru.

"I'll ask him," Sasuke says simply, as though this is the most obvious thing in the world. The thought of Sasuke talking to him alone makes her skin crawl, but so does the thought of willingly facing Orochimaru-- of asking him for something.

Karin looks just as astonished, though much less horrified. Finally, she straightens, crossing her arms and shooting a glare between the couple as though this might make them change their minds. Sakura should think she knows better, considering how similar the two are and just how long they (mostly just Sakura, really) have been pleading with her to come with them. Her eyes drop to Sakura's swollen stomach and it makes her blush, but she maintains what would be eye contact were Karin looking up. Finally, she sighs, running her fingers through her red hair and brushing it all to one side of her head with a groan that sounds like it's just as much filled with resignation as it is with frustration. "Fine. But he's not going to say yes."


	2. Connections

"I can't believe he said yes," Karin moans for the dozenth time, this time as she scrubs at a stain on a too-big violet shirt as though it has personally affronted her. "I'm an invaluable asset, his _best_ medic-nin. Way better than Kabuto!" She is still muttering to herself, but this cry of indignation is loud enough that it actually catches Sakura's attention and she glances up from the pants she herself was washing only a moment ago. They sit at a stream a small ways away from their camp, Sakura washing she and Sasuke's laundry while he sets up camp, and Karin stubbornly washing her own laundry after refusing Sakura's offer to wash it for her.

Glancing at the shirt Karin is washing out of the corner of her eye, she has to stifle a snicker into the pants she was washing a moment ago, though she is interrupted by a small yelp of surprise when the cold fabric makes contact with the very tip of her nose. Karin glares at her, the same way she has consistently _been_ glaring at her since they left Orochimaru's hideout (only to immediately start heading for a different hideout, since, according to Karin, that was the only place where the things she needs will be found).

After a moment, she sniffs and leans closer in a way that reminds her of Naruto when they were children and he was about to goad Sasuke into a fight. "What's funny, _Uchiha_?" The whole time they've been traveling together (all three days, that is) Karin hasn't called her by her first name. She supposes they can both only be grateful that she hasn't had the audacity to refer to her as Haruno yet.

"That's a water stain," she says, dropping the pants in her hands into the basket of clothes she's already washed with a wet _squelch_. "You're going to need to iron it. I can do that in the next village we stop in, if you want. Should be a couple of days."

Karin narrows her eyes for a moment but doesn't say anything, dropping her eyes back to the shirt. She squints more at the stain, and then sighs, dropping it into Sakura's laundry without saying thank you and then picking up another, lighter purple shirt that doesn't actually look dirty the way most of Sakura and Sasuke's clothes have dirt and sweat all over them. Sakura almost laughs-- she wouldn't have considered anyone with Uzumaki heritage might be a neat freak, and Sakura wouldn't have guessed Karin to be the sort anyway-- but thinks better of it, considering the glare the other woman still levels her with. "You and Sasuke must have been pretty close," she says, voice chipper, in the attempt to be friendly. She doesn't want the next month of travel to be completely hostile-- or else just awkward.

"Just because we traveled together doesn't mean we were close," she sniffs, but Sakura hears the implication there.

 _Just because we're traveling together doesn't mean we're going to be friends_.

"Well, yeah. But I mean, you guys were traveling together for the better part of a year. I know that if I were on the same team as someone for the better part of a year I would want to be close to them just so things weren't so awkward." She says, still smiling brightly, and fills her own voice with implication. _I don't want to travel with you for a long time and have things be so awkward_.

Karin huffs and drops the shorts she's washing into her lap, ignoring the water that steadily soaks into the fabric of her clothes. "We aren't friends just because I'm practically being _forced_ to deliver your baby, Sakura. After this month I'm going right back to my work with Orochimaru-sama and you and Sasuke can go back to your _precious_ village with your _precious_ new baby. Let's not pretend that this is anything more than it is," she says, but Sakura doesn't hear anything past her name. _She said my first name! That's progress_ , she thinks hopefully, her smile brightening, and Karin must notice what she did wrong quickly because she immediately starts to backpedal, "No, stop, don't get that look. I _know_ that look, and I don't want it." She waves her hands in front of her insistently as though trying to form some sort of invisible barrier.

"I'll let you borrow some of my clothes for the next couple of days until your shirt is ready," she says giddily. "Most of them don't fit anyway because I'm so big now and I bet that red is your color. I mean, it'd go with your hair," she says, ecstatic, and Karin groans but doesn't protest so she takes it as a positive sign.

They wash the rest of the laundry in silence, and when they get back to camp, Sasuke just looks between them with a raised eyebrow before accepting the wet laundry from Sakura to hang for drying overnight.

Sakura babbles about how much progress they've made when they lay down for bed until she falls asleep.


	3. From a Bud to a Blossom

Sakura stares down at her own swollen stomach with furrowed eyebrows and a pout before giving her husband a pointed look. "I'm huge," she whines while he leans forward to poke the fire. They've already eaten, but the three of them have taken to sitting in an almost companionable silence for a while after dinner. He looks her over and then shrugs, a clear disagreement that he is too smart to voice out loud, avoiding an argument. Karin, however, snorts from her place across the fire, arms crossed over her chest. _Red really is her color_ , Sakura thinks, smiling at the fabric of one of her own shirts.

"Well what did you expect?"

She narrows her eyes at the other woman before deciding to drop it, sighing and resting her hands on top of her abdomen. The baby has been still for the past few hours, politely cooperating as she helped Karin to cook their food (mostly consisting of standing around, occasionally peeling something) and then ate it. Now, though, as she feels the warmth of her second bowl of stew reaching her stomach, she suspects the kicking will start up again.

Sure enough, there's a sharp enough pain in her ribs after a moment that she actually hisses through her teeth, more in surprise than in actual discomfort. Even if their baby didn't weigh, at most, eight pounds, she's been feeling his kicks against her ribs for months now.

Sasuke still looks concerned every time it catches her by surprise and she makes a face. "What? What is it?" He looks her over, his expression concerned, and it brings a small smile to her lips. When they were genin, he likely would have just ignored her pain, walking off while Naruto trailed after him screaming about how he should be worried about their teammate and ultimately leaving her to deal with whatever it was alone (often cramps). By the time she had hit chūnin, he probably would have taken any expression of pain as a sign of weakness and tried to kill her. Now, though, he looks at her at every small grimace like she's the only thing in the world that matters. Like for a moment Karin has disappeared and it's just the two of them again. She practically melts at the attention, giddiness spreading in her gut.

"He's just kicking extra hard tonight, that's all," she offers gently, his hand and resting it over the large curve of her belly. He watches it in fascination for a moment, the way he always does, like he can't quite believe this is real. It's almost sad. Their son shifts immediately to kick against his father's hand which ends up pressing his little body uncomfortably close to her bladder, and she watches Sasuke's face morph into an entirely different expression of awe all together. He isn't even in the world yet, and Sasuke is already completely in love with their child. It takes her a moment to notice Karin watching them, and she feels heat creep up to her cheeks even as she smiles. "Do you want to feel? He already kicks like a taijutsu expert. Maybe he can train with Lee when he's older..." She trails off, rubbing a hand fondly over her abdomen.

She makes no move to come closer, simply narrows her eyes to watch closer as Sakura and Sasuke's hands keep nearly brushing. He's not one for public displays of affection, really, but she suspects she couldn't pry his hand away from their son's little kicks if she wanted to. (She doesn't, though. She'd be happy like this forever.)

Finally, Karin crosses her arms and rips her eyes away. "...It's a girl." This startles Sakura and even seems to catch Sasuke's attention, both of their gazes drifting up to look at her. She falters for a moment, before explaining in the most matter-of-fact tone Sakura has ever heard, "You kept saying 'he'. It's... faint, but I can sense her chakra. You're having a girl, not a boy."

Sakura is startled for a moment, before smiling affectionately down at her stomach again and rubbing her hands over the spot their daughter loves to kick at night.

She's had her suspicions, and had her spiteful hopes that they would have a daughter just to deny Sasuke's insistence that they will have a son, but the fact that it's really confirmed for her brings a gentle smile to her face for the rest of the night until they're getting ready for bed and she sees Karin stiffly changing into another one of Sakura's shirts despite giving a sidelong glance to the stained violet shirt Sakura still hasn't had a chance to iron. With great difficulty, she squirms her way to an upright position and then presses a kiss to the side of Sasuke's head before crawling out of the tent, approaching Karin tentatively. "Hey... Thanks. For telling us. It was really kind of you."

Karin's face flushes at the praise and she stares pointedly at the ground, crossing her arms in a way Sakura is increasingly beginning to suspect is a defense mechanism for her. She only seems to do it when she's nervous. "You have a right to know the sex of your baby. Plus... _I_ wouldn't want to be mistaken for a stupid man. Women are much better," she says, briefly sending a wicked grin toward the tent that Sasuke is currently falling asleep in before looking back at Sakura, a new light in her eyes. After a moment, her gaze drifts to her stomach and she chews her lips for a second. Then, "...Can I?" She gestures with her eyes toward Sakura's midriff and Sakura brightens, grabbing Karin's hand and practically yanking it to her large bump, showing her where to put it to feel the little flutters of life.

Under her skin, she can feel the baby shifting around a little, but for the most part, she is still. _She's learning that Mama won't put up with her keeping us up all night_ , Sakura thinks with a grin.

"She's asleep by now, but she'll be more active in the morning if you want to try again then," she says, tone apologetic, and Karin looks at her like she's just spat out a particularly complicated riddle.

She lingers for a second longer, eyes focused on Sakura's stomach and hands resting over the baby, before she pulls back, looking vulnerable. "...Thank you, Sakura."


	4. Zodiac

"The Jade Emperor's palace was across a great river. At the mouth of the river, the animals gathered for their race, but there was no sign of the cat! You see, the rat had tricked his friend, telling him that the race was the next day, as he knew that the cat would surely beat him. All of the gathered animals readied themselves to begin the race to the Emperor's house, but the lazy rat did not want to swim across the river. 'Ushi,' he said. 'Will you let me ride across the river on your head?' The ox looked at the little rat and pictured the poor creature drowning.

"'You may ride across the river on my head,' he said. 'But you must sing to me the whole way across the river.' And so the rat climbed onto the ox's head and they set off across the river. The rat sang to the ox the whole way, but when they reached the end of the river, the wicked rat sprung off of the ox's nose, and stole first place for himself, leaving the ox to take second. Following was the tiger, claiming third place for himself and panting that without his strength, he would not have made it across. The rabbit jumped to shore and explained that he had made it across the river by jumping from stone to stone, and when the dragon arrived in fifth place, he explained to the Emperor, who was curious how such a powerful creature did not come in first, that all the people of Earth needed rain and he had stopped to help them. Then, on his way back to the river, he had seen the poor rabbit struggling and blew him to shore. The Emperor, pleased by his kindness, made him the fifth animal of the zodiac.

"They were followed shortly by the horse, but the snake had hidden itself in its hoof. Startled by the appearance of the serpent, the horse fell behind the snake and was left to finish the race in seventh. The ram, monkey, and rooster arrived next in a little raft they had used to get across the river together, and they became the eighth, ninth, and tenth animals of the zodiac. The dog was next, explaining that though he was the best swimmer of the bunch, he had not had a bath in a long while, and took advantage of the river's warm, flowing water to clean himself. Finally, the pig arrived, becoming the twelfth and last animal of the zodiac. The next day, the cat arrived, but the Emperor told him that he had missed the race, which was the previous day. The cat realized that the rat had tricked him! And that's why cats always try to kill rats."

Sakura smiles affectionately down at her stomach as she finishes the story of the zodiac, tucking the old book into her bag. She has taken to reading to the baby since she learned that it could hear in the fourth month of pregnancy, and this particular copy is an old one from her childhood that her father used to read to her. He, of course, always did voices, which is more dedication than she has when their daughter can't insist.

She glances at her husband, who sits at a desk tucked into one corner of the room of the inn that they're staying in sharpening his sword. "So, what do Uchiha do when one is born in the Year of the Rat?"

He scowls at her teasing, just as aware as she is that he and Naruto are both Year of the Rat. Having been born in March of the next year, she prides herself on being the only Ox in their graduating class. "They don't do anything."

"Maybe you and Naruto's rivalry has a more simple explanation than I thought. It's simple cat and mouse," she guys, snickering to herself when his scowl deepens. Though the old woman has surely passed away by now, she can still remember the way Nekobaa had referred to Sasuke and Itachi as _little kittens_ when they were genin. It was possibly the only cat retrieval mission she ever had fun on, and the memory brings a smile to her face. She's pretty sure her granddaughter is, ironically, dating Kiba now.

He sighs, going back to his sword, and she lays on her side watching him for a while. He handles it with the same precision he does everything else in life, narrowing his eyes at it before nodding incrementally and continuing his ministrations. He is careful with the blade in a way that almost surprises her, a gentleness to it that is unique from the way he treats even her, as though the sword is a human being requiring special care and not simply an old weapon. He spends nearly an hour sharpening and then polishing it, until her eyelids start to grow heavy and she drags the blanket up to her shoulders. He joins her shortly after that, sliding into bed and resting a hand on her stomach.

"G'night Sasuke," she mumbles, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. He hums, resting his chin on top of her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Karin in this chapter. I just couldn't find a way to make it work, and the story is just as much about Sakura as it is about the development of their friendship. Still, this will probably be the only one that doesn't have her.


	5. Japanese Mythology

"You'd best not look at Sakura when she gives birth," Karin says more at Sasuke than to him, but Sakura suspects that she's teasing based on the amused smile on her lips. He says nothing, but raises a curious eyebrow. "You don't want to see her _true form_."

Sakura scoffs and smacks the other woman's shoulder with the negi in her hands before continuing to chop it. She burns everything she cooks, but they've learned she can safely prepare meats and vegetables for Karin to actually put over the fire on the nights that Sasuke doesn't make something. She suspects Karin actually likes cooking, despite how much she mutters about sexism when she does it.

"I'm not going to turn into a dragon, Karin."

They both snicker to themselves, but Sasuke looks confused.

Karin only spares him a glance over her shoulder before shrugging, taking the chopped bits of negi from Sakura and putting them to the side while Sakura begins to clean the duck they got in their last village of the little fat it wears. "You're right, of course," she says, tone half-appeasing, and Sakura beams at her. "You're much more of a Konohanasakuya-hime than a Toyotama-hime." This seems to catch Sasuke's attention, but only for a moment before he quickly returns to stoking the fire.

"Oh?" Quickly, Sakura picks up the knife, jokingly pointing it dramatically in the air. If this makes Karin nervous at all, she doesn't show it. "How could you, my husband, _dare_ imply that I would ever be unfaithful!" She thinks she actually hears Sasuke scoff behind her, his signature 'Tch' reaching her ears and almost making her break character to smile. "To prove that this baby is born of our marriage, I will lock myself in a doorless hut for three days and set it on fire, for only a child born of our union could survive such a thing!" She dramatically leans back toward the fire and Karin turns from the boiling broth to catch her, dipping her until the tips of her hair dangle dangerously close to the flames.

"Careful, Sakura. You don't want triplets."

They devolve into laughter until tears prick at the corners of her eyes and she can't breathe. Karin helps her to straighten, and out of the corner of her eye she can catch the slightest upturning of her husband's lips even as he rolls his eyes. "You're right, of course," she says fondly, mimicking Karin's words from earlier as she goes back to the duck. "Triplets would be _awful_." It only takes her a few minutes to finish preparing the duck, and once it's done Sasuke takes it to cook while Karin boils the noodles for soba. Soups are a rare delicacy when they're traveling, but Karin seems to have a similar dedication to ramen and other noodle-dishes to Naruto. (Sakura wonders not for the first time if it is simply an Uzumaki thing.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but cute, I should hope!


	6. Acknowledgements

Karin has taken to resting her hands on Sakura's stomach whenever possible.

She finds it almost amusing, actually, especially after dinner during their long talks, sitting together around the fire before they all part ways to go to bed so they can begin travel again at the crack of dawn. Karin and Sasuke will glare at each other as they both go to rest their hands on Sakura's abdomen, Sasuke likely just to affectionately feel his child's movements and Karin under the pretense that she's checking on " _both of her patients_ " when Sakura is pretty sure she's just using that as an excuse. After all, their relationship has flowered into something really beautiful.

"I have to check the baby's position," Karin huffs, narrowing her eyes at Sasuke. He glares right back, his lone hand hovering inches from Sakura's abdomen. "She's due in a week, if her position is wrong it could be really dangerous for both her and Sakura." It's a cheap tactic and Karin knows it, but Sasuke still backs off, shooting her a burning glare. "Thank you," she says, but it's too smug to be genuine.

Her hands are always cold, and Sakura can feel the icy touch of her fingertips even through the fabric of her shirt despite the softness of her touch, as though she may break Sakura if she presses too hard. The thought is enough to make her laugh.

They spend nearly fifteen minutes like that before Karin actually starts to lightly prod at her stomach and Sakura can feel their daughter kick in protest even as she shifts around. It always feels weird to her to think that there is a real person inside of her. That in only a few years the thing that she's been incubating for months will have real thoughts and feelings and opinions and won't just be kicking her in the ribs because she ate spicy food or giving her heartburn randomly in the middle of the afternoon. She's known logically, of course, that she wasn't going to be pregnant forever, but it's still a strange thing to really think about. That in only a week, she won't be feeling the small flutters of life near her stomach, and maybe she won't have to pee every ten minutes. (She's had patients who were mothers, though, and she knows that this is just wishful thinking.) In only a week, she will be able to hold her daughter in her arms.

"What are you thinking about?" Karin mumbles conversationally, low enough that Sasuke can't hear it from where he sulks only a meter away even with his freakish hearing. Sakura smiles at her friend. They've only been traveling together for a few short weeks, but it feels like it's been years. Her relationship with Karin-- possibly even Karin as a person-- has come so far. She imagines that if they'd met when they were younger, their relationship would be very similar to the way her relationship with Ino is now. She's happy, though, that it is something wholly unique.

"I'm nervous," she admits, although it's strange to think about. Until she voiced it out loud, she wouldn't have thought she was nervous, but she realizes that's exactly what she is. Of course she is excited to see her daughter, to point out which features on her face are hers and which ones are Sasuke's, to count her little fingers and toes, but she is also insanely anxious that she's going to mess something up.

As though Karin hears her thoughts beyond just her words, she gives her what Sakura guesses is supposed to be a reassuring smile. "You're going to be a great mother." Sakura laughs, but before she can say _You're just saying that_ , Karin continues, "You are! I know it. Women's intuition." Sakura laughs again, smiling dumbly, and sniffles. She thinks she is about to cry, and supposes that's one aspect of pregnancy she won't miss.

"I don't think you're using that phrase correctly," she says out loud, wiping at her damp eyes right before they start leaking. Karin straightens, finally removing her hands from Sakura's stomach, and Sasuke isn't immediately at her side so Sakura suspects he's wandered off to sulk in privacy. The thought brings a small, nostalgic smile to her face and memories of long missions when he would get fed up with Naruto and announce he was going on some errand just to get away from them for a while. "Hey Karin?" The redhead hums in acknowledgement, pushing her glasses up her nose. "I'm glad that we're friends."

The Uzumaki looks startled for a moment, wearing an expression like that was the last thing she would expect Sakura to say. Finally, she breaks into a small smile, staring at her feet as she mumbles, "Me too." She thinks it's the closest thing to acknowledgement that she's going to get and struggles to her feet, grateful when Karin subtly offers her arm to help pull the Uchiha to her feet.

"I'm gonna go find my husband before something bad happens." Karin shoots her that doubtful _Like what_? expression that Sakura's grown to be fond of, and in turn she shrugs. "It's Sasuke. it could be anything."


	7. Happy Birthday! / Freestyle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **This chapter contains descriptions of rotten food, strong smells, and blood. Reader discretion is advised.**

They reach the hideout on Sakura's birthday, four days earlier than they expected to. It's cavernous and empty, and everything they say echoes off the walls.

The whole place gives her a sense of unease.

She glances through the bars of another empty prison cell and the smell of rotten food from the abandoned plates that riddle the floor threaten to make her sick more than the thoughts of hundreds of people being stuffed in this place or Karin being the warden do. Both her husband and Karin must notice because they try to hurry her by as quickly as possible with exchanged glances that they must think she can't see.

"Home sweet home," Karin says, but it sounds bitter and sarcastic. Her own nose is visibly crinkled in disgust as her eyes rove over the mold and blood on the floors. At the very least, the place seems to have been cleaned of the bodies Sakura is sure were here before, based on the stains in the stone. She wonders from the smell, though, just how long they were left to rot.

Sakura is suddenly hit with an overwhelming sadness to think that Karin was left here alone for years. That she was tucked away in a corner under the pretense that she was in charge of an important facility (though based on the size of the prison, it did hold some importance), when really, she was being trapped here alongside every prisoner.

She was abandoned.

She realizes she's crying before even Sasuke notices but still can't catch the sobs, which echo off the walls the same as every other noise they make. Sasuke is immediately by her side, wrapping a firm, supportive arm around her shoulders and giving her that look like she's the most important thing in the world. For once, she hardly notices. She steps forward, out of his embrace, and instead wraps her arms tightly around Karin, sobbing wetly against the girl's neck. "Oh, Karin..." She sniffles and wipes at her tears with her wrist even as she doesn't pull back. "This is so horrible..."

Karin is stiff in her arms, rigid beneath Sakura's touch as though she has never been embraced before. Not for the first time, it hits Sakura that they were all only children when everything happened. That they were children when they fought in the war and they were children when they were trying to kill each other. Sasuke was only a child when his family was taken from him, and she knows now that there were reasons, of course, that it wasn't simply the cruelty of the world or the way things were or, as she had horribly thought to herself on nights when she was too young to understand, _fate_. He was still only seven when he had to see his parents' bodies at his brother's feet. Karin was only a child when she was seduced into the life of a missing-nin by Orochimaru and she was only a child when she was left in this prison by herself.

She wonders just how much Karin would have done for Orochimaru back then. Just how much she would have done for the man she thought saved her life. The man she still thinks saved her life. She wonders just how much Karin would do for him now. Slowly, she feels arms rise up to wrap around her back. Karin shushes her quietly, voice softer than she's ever heard it, and she cries more into her neck. "It's okay, Sakura..." She whispers, and Sakura wonders if she's shooting that unsure look she gets when she's not certain she's doing something right at Sasuke. She wonders if he's nodding at her, silently letting her know that this is the correct way to approach the situation. "Do you want to leave? We can leave if..." She trails off, voice still uncertain. The idea is ridiculous. There's nowhere else they can go.

"N-no," she stutters out after a minute, sniffling and trying to pull herself together. She pulls back from Karin, chewing on her lip but forcing herself not to look at her toes. "No, we have to be here."

"We'll find somewhere else. Anywhere else." Karin offers, tone frantic yet still so gentle. She sounds like Sakura is breaking into a million pieces right in front of her and the right words will make her snap back together.

She shakes her head firmly. "It's fine. I'm fine." She can feel Sasuke's stern look against her back as she meets Karin's. "I'll be fine," she amends.

It takes a while, but eventually they seem to accept this answer and lead her to a room toward the back. The walls are the same stone of the rest of the hideout, but it doesn't smell quite so bad in here so Sakura suspects these were once Karin's quarters, or else a room delegated to important meetings. A million questions spring to the front of her mind and she asks none of them as the two of them leave her there. It doesn't take long for her to hear a muffled yell of, "How is it empty already?!" She chooses to assume they're cleaning.

"Don't mix those!"

* * *

They narrowly avoid four different poisonous mixes of chemicals based solely on Karin's fast reflexes, and Sakura is more than grateful when they come back, smelling like cleaning product, rice vinegar, and lemon juice. Neither of them is willing to sit too close to her, and she is left pouting in the booth while they stand in the other corner. Sasuke leans against the wall while Karin paces in front of the door, looking for all the world like she wants to go out and do more.

The booth Sakura sits in still smells like dust and makes her sneeze if she breathes too deeply, even as she has been in it for the past two hours waiting for them to stop cleaning. They now cook, though she's not sure she can exactly call it that when what they're actually doing is throwing old, already prepared ingredients into a sort of shimotsukare while Karin berates Sasuke for his abysmal cleaning skills.

"You could have killed me! And your wife and child! Why? Because you never bothered to pick up a mop when you were a kid? I'm not your mother, it's not my responsibility to teach you which chemicals can and can't mix!" Sakura flinches at her word choice, but if Sasuke notices, he doesn't have any sort of reaction. "And if you didn't kill us all with your poison, I would have been forced to personally beat you to a bloody pulp!" At this, Sasuke scoffs and Karin's temper flares. She drops the abura-age in her hands to turn to him, eyes burning and hands on her hips. "You think I wouldn't? I'll fight you right now!"

At this, Sakura gets up, moving as fast as she can with her huge stomach to stand between them. "Hey, hey, let's not fight, huh?" The baby kicks as though in agreement and Sakura smiles fondly, resting a hand on her stomach. "It's my birthday. Can we all just pretend to get along for a minute?" The two exchange heated looks for a second before turning away from each other, glaring at their respective walls. She decides it's as good as she's really going to get.

* * *

They spend the next two days cleaning every inch of the humongous hideout even as it likely won't be used again after they leave. Sakura isn't allowed to help much, but insistently dusts the room that they're staying in if only so she has something to do.

After that, they set about preparing a room for her to give birth in. She's much more helpful in this, as carrying a forty pound futon across the hideout (from what _actually_ turns out to be Karin's old quarters) hardly constitutes heavy lifting when you can crush mountains with your bare hands.

This only takes a few hours, and she lays on the futon talking to Karin once they're done while Sasuke sits on the very edge of the bed's side as though worried she won't have enough space. "Do you think you'll ever have kids?" She asks, and she knows it's intrusive but she's always been sort of intrusive, anyway. The way Karin wrinkles her nose is answer enough, and Sakura laughs.

"I don't really like... children. I mean, I'll put up with them if they're around, but I'd never want any. I still think you two are a little insane for it, honestly, but I know that you need to _reestablish the Uchiha name_ and all that," she says, and it's plain in her tone that she's trying not to roll her eyes. Sakura herself giggles a bit, gaze sliding to her husband, who has the decency to look embarrassed. She wonders if that's the sort of thing they would have talked about, back when they were still Team Taka. She wonders if he ever actually talked to them about anything, or if he was just as aloof with them as he was with Team 7 in the beginning. She likes to think that he wasn't alone in that time, that he had Karin and Suigetsu as more than just annoying teammates that he had to deal with.

She shrugs. "It's not for everyone. I've always wanted kids, though... Even when I _was_ a kid, I pictured myself having two or three kids with..." She cuts herself off, coughing to hide it and blushing as she looks away from her husband. _With Sasuke_. She pictured a lot of things when she was young, though. She picture him staying in Konoha. She pictured the two of them getting married the minute she turned eighteen, like the second they were assigned to a team together he'd realize what he was missing all those years and immediately fall in love with her. She thinks that what they have now is much better-- much more genuine-- than the fantasies of a preteen girl who didn't know the first thing about love or relationships.

"You're going to be a great mom," Karin says fiercely, reaffirming her statement from a week ago, and she reaches out to squeeze Sakura's hand. After a moment, her eyes slide to Sasuke and she grins wickedly before adding, "You'll be fine. She'll pick up your slack." It's the closest to a compliment she suspects Karin is willing to pay him, and he dips his head forward in acceptance. She doesn't quite understand the relationship the two of them have (especially not after how in love Karin was with him), but she can see how close the two of them are, somehow. It's a camaraderie she is happy to know her husband had-- _has_.

Twelve hours later, her water breaks just as she is standing to get Karin and remind her that it's her due date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Sakura! This marks the end of Sakura Week 2018 and of this fic. I hope you guys had almost as much fun as I did!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sakura Week 2018, and inspired by Karin's line in Chapter 10 of Naruto Gaiden, "Sakura was chasing after Sasuke and _we_ traveled together for a while! Sarada was born in our hideout!" I just love the implication that, for at least a little bit, Karin was with them.


End file.
